Certificate in Risk Management (CertRM)

Course overview

The Certificate in Risk Management (CertRM) provides the knowledge and skills needed by finance professionals in addressing practical problems in corporate financial risk management.

CertRM counts towards the AMCT Diploma in Treasury as one of the stage three electives or can be taken as a standalone certificate.

Current ACT student? Please visit the study site

*If you are taking CertRM as a standalone certificate you must enrol by 31 March for October examination to benefit from maximum study time.

If you are taking CertRM whilst studying for or having completed CertITM the latest you can enrol for this course is 15 June for October examination.

**The discounted course fee of £750+VAT only applies if you are taking CertRM at stage three of AMCT, ie if you are studying for or have completed CertITM. See AMCT for further details.

Student subscriptions

From 1 May 2009 all new students enrolling on ACT Certificates (or the AMCT Diploma) are required to pay an annual student subscription fee of £125 on a pro-rata basis from the month of enrolment and thereafter a yearly subscription each May.

This provides full student membership benefits including a subscription to The Treasurer magazine, special student rates when attending ACT training courses and events and purchasing the International Treasurer's Handbook plus free access to the ICAEW library and information service.

How can I enrol?

To enrol on CertRM as a standalone certificate please complete and return the enrolment & booking form to the ACT.

• Download certificate enrolment & booking form (PDF 128K)

To enrol on CertRM as part of the AMCT Diploma in Treasury go to the AMCT page.

Course objectives

• Demonstrate how financial risk management fits with an organisation's strategy and its overall risk management objectives
• Enable you to identify risks affecting the organisation and to set financial risk management policy and objectives
• Equip you with technical knowledge of enterprise-wide risk management tools and techniques and help you apply this knowledge in your day-today working environment
• Provide an in-depth understanding of how derivatives and other techniques can be used to manage financial risk.

Who should take this qualification?

CertRM is relevant for those who:

• Are in the early stages of a treasury career or who wish to join a treasury or risk management team in either a corporate or financial institution
• Wish to gain an understanding of the wider issues dealt with by managing risk on an enterprise-wide basis
• Have responsibility for treasury matters or financial risk management as part of a wider overall role
• Are considering a career in treasury or risk management either domestically or internationally
• Work in financial institutions, where there is a need to understand the corporate environment
• Deal with treasury matters as part of an audit, advisory or consultancy role.

Learning outcomes

You will gain:

• A clear understanding of the essential theories, principles and techniques of financial risk management
• Insight into how to create and maintain shareholder value through the management of risk
• The core knowledge, technical and practical skills required for a role in treasury or corporate financial risk management.

Course content

The course comprises six study units:

Study Unit 1 – Risk and its Management

This study unit introduces risk, how it is fundamental to the firm and the sorts of risk that investors expect firms to take. With a backdrop of corporate finance principles, regulation, governance and reporting, a risk management framework is introduced, showing an overall approach to risk but highlighting the different types of risk where treatment may be different.

Study Unit 2 – Financial Market Risk: Interest Rates

No firm can escape interest rate risk and this study unit focuses on the different effect it may have on different types of firm and in different circumstances, proposes responses appropriate to each case and introduces the science of the yield curve and the instruments available to firms, as well as showing how the instruments allow the appropriate response.

Study Unit 3 – Financial Market Risk: Foreign Exchange

This study unit explains the different types of foreign exchange risk that can affect the firm; how each might be evaluated and responded to, recognising that foreign exchange risk may be fundamental to the firm and become a business risk. The instruments are introduced together with techniques for implementation, also recognising that foreign exchange risk has an upside, giving extensive choice to business managers as to how to respond to the risk.

Study Unit 4 – Financial Risk: Liquidity

All firms have liquidity risk (the risk of inability to make required payments firm wide) from many different sources. This risk is perhaps the most difficult to generalise (as firms funding are very individual) but this unit takes an approach similar to that for other risks and shows an approach to management of this particularly difficult but crucial risk.

Study Unit 5 – Other Financial Risks and Issues

Finance professionals are also interested in the management of risk in the counterparties with whom they deal, from customers and suppliers to banks, with risk in commodity prices and in risk in pension schemes where the risk in meeting pension payments falls on the firm. This unit looks at these risks, recognising their huge importance to the firm. Next the often forgotten issue of operational risk within treasury departments is discussed, arising because of treasury’s cash management responsibilities. And we conclude with a review of the accounting issues arising in connection with financial risk management.

For detailed course content, please see the CertRM syllabus (PDF 24K)

How will I study?

CertRM is a distance learning programme combining self study with optional face-to-face tuition. The course offers a flexible approach to learning through an online study programme comprising:

• Learning resources – the searchable resource database includes technical content, practical exercises, self tests and further reading materials
• Study guide – the step-by-step guide directs students through the course and the activities to be completed. It provides guidance on how to get the most from the different learning resources
• Tutor guided forum – each study group has the support of a tutor to answer questions, solve problems and offer advice through the online forum. This enables regular contact and discussion with both the course tutor and other students.

What’s included: Access to the e-learning website, learning resources, study guide and forum

You will need: Access to a computer with internet connection

Optional Supplementary Reading

• Essentials of Financial Risk Management, Karen A. Horcher. Published by Wiley & Sons Inc.
• Derivatives Demystified, Andrew M. Chisholm. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

You may also find it useful to purchase a financial dictionary. Two recommended books are:

• A Dictionary of Finance and Banking. Edited Brian Butler & Alan Isaacs (Oxford Paperbacks)
• Essential Finance: The Essential A-Z. Nigel Gibson (Published by the Economist)

These books can be obtained from bookshops or from www.amazon.co.uk

Entry requirements

• Good standard of english: due to the course being written and examined in English, students will need to possess a good standard of English.
• Internet Browser version: the eLearning website is an important part of this course as you will be able to access the online course manual, discussion forum and further information. Therefore you do need the latest browser to access the content. We suggest one of the following browsers: Internet Explorer 7 or 8, Firefox 3 or Google Chrome to view the content correctly.

Tuition and revision

The four day optional tuition course covers core topics. Tuition has been tailored to cover the key areas of the course – reinforcing and improving knowledge. Tuition days complement your home study; each day is intensive, covering a number of topics in detail with lecturers, worked examples and tutorial sessions.

The three day optional revision course covers exam preparation techniques, revision, tutor-structured solutions and exam question practice. The objective of the revision course is to revise material covered earlier, to enhance your confidence in attempting exam standard questions in the topics covered. Coverage is not comprehensive, but is designed to complement your final exam preparations and the previous tuition course and/or home study programme.

You can book onto the optional tuition and revision when you enrol or up to 10 days before the start of the courses.

• Meet the tutors

Assessment and examination

Students are assessed by a three-hour written exam.

The mark you need to achieve a pass in all papers apart from CertITM is normally 50%. For CertITM the mark you need to achieve a pass is normally 70%. This higher mark is accounted for by the fact that in a multiple choice examination, marks may be gained by guessing the correct answer.

Risk Management Faculty

Once you have completed CertRM you are eligible to join the Risk Management Faculty, which will continue your involvement with the ACT once you have finished studying and support your continuous professional development.

Benefits include access to a wide range of resources including the knowledge centre with updated CertRM course materials, best practice guidance and the latest technical content as well as The Treasurer magazine. Networking opportunities will also be available through the faculty member directory, discussion forum and ACT regional group events.

Use of the designatory letters, CertRM is exclusive to RM faculty members.

Continuing your studies

As well as a standalone qualification, you may also count CertRM as one of the seven papers that comprise the AMCT Diploma in Treasury – the ACT's core treasury qualification which leads to associate membership and use of the designatory letters AMCT.